Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to appoint the High Speed 2 Residents Commissioner; where that Commissioner will be based; to whom that Commissioner will be accountable; and how many staff at what level that Commissioner will have.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We anticipate that following the recruitment process we will be able to announce the Residents’ Commissioner in December. The Commissioner will report to Sir David Higgins, the Chairman of HS2 Ltd. This will create a direct link to ensure that the Commissioner’s views are heard at the highest level. The Commissioner will be based at HS2 Ltd’s head office in Canary Wharf and will have one staff member available to provide administrative support, as well as drawing on support from relevant teams across the organisation.　 This is a new role and so resource will be reviewed in consultation with the Commissioner once in post.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the conclusions of its review of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's survey and inspection capability.

Mr John Hayes: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency will be implementing internal plans over the next 12 months to match the resources available for the conduct of marine surveying and ship inspection activities to fulfil national and international obligations. This will involve improving efficiency, targeting activities based on risk, different ways of working to capitalise on technology, and maximising potential income.　 This is normal management activity to match resources to tasks and will not result in a formal report.

Shipping: Inspections

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ships the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has detained following an inspection conducted in line with the MCA's port state control responsibilities in each of the last five years; and what the (a) reasons for detention and (b) flag registry were in each such case.

Mr John Hayes: The attached table shows the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number and flag of each ship, in every year between 2009 and 2013, which has been detained in UK ports following a port state control inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. There are many reasons why a ship can be detained. Details about the detentions for each ship can be found at:https://www.parismou.org/inspection-search  and searching using the ship’s IMO Number.   In the case of a detention, the Port State Control inspector has found serious deficiencies which demonstrate that the ship does not comply substantially with the applicable requirements of the relevant International Conventions for the ship. These serious deficiencies are considered to affect the safety of the ship, or the crew or the environment or the living and working conditions on board such that the inspector has to return to the ship to verify that all the deficiencies have been rectified before departure of the ship from the UK.



211528 - table of detentions by year and flag
(PDF Document, 277.74 KB)

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Exceptional Hardship Scheme applications in each parliamentary constituency (a) were approved, (b) were rejected and (c) are still under consideration since the scheme came into operation in August 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The figures by constituency as requested are in the table below. Totals in the "accepted" and "rejected" columns are based on decisions made since the Phase One and Phase Two schemes began in August 2010 and July 2013 respectively.



211902 - table - Exceptional Hardship Scheme
(Excel SpreadSheet, 43.5 KB)

Department for Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) the borough of Tower Hamlets, (c) London and (d) England failed to meet the decent homes standard in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the Hon. Member to my written answer of 21 October 2014, PQ 206256. Figures are held by local authority area, not parliamentary constituency.

Local Government

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent representations he has received on recording of council meetings in public.

Kris Hopkins: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer of 9 October 2014, PQ 208759, and the answer to her of 8 April 2014, Official Report, Column 222W. We receive correspondence on a range of local government issues. We have published a plain English guide on the openness of council meetings to help councils, the press and members of the public.www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-and-accountable-local-government-plain-english-guide

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Palestinians

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Palestinian Authority about reconstruction in Gaza.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Consulate-General in Jerusalem met with the Palestinian Prime Minister on 8 September to discuss the issue of reconstruction in Gaza.

Arctic Council

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials there were in the UK delegation to the 2013 Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in Kiruna, Sweden; and what the (a) title of position and (b) grade was of each such official.

James Duddridge: The UK continues to support the Nigerian authorities in trying to establish the location of the abducted schoolgirls. We provide surveillance assets, in the form of RAF Tornados, to assist in the search and expertise to assist in intelligence analysis. The resolve of Nigeria, the UK and international community to continue the search remains strong.On 3 September I led the UK delegation to the ministerial meeting in Abuja on security in Nigeria, attended by Nigeria’s neighbours and international partners. I emphasised the crucial importance of regional coordination to locating the girls taken from Chibok and to defeating Boko Haram.

South Sudan

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the authorities in South Sudan over the need for the NGO Bill in that country to ensure that citizens and civil society organisations can engage in humanitarian activity, enjoy freedom of association and use monitoring and accountability systems in accordance with the general assumptions of the New Deal.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I raised concerns about the proposed NGO bill with South Sudan Foreign Minister Dr Barnaba Benjamin during a meeting in New York on 25 September. I have since written to Dr Benjamin to reinforce those concerns and provide more detail. The British Embassy in Juba has also made a number of representations to the South Sudanese authorities on this issue over the past year. In September, I met a wide selection of British NGOs operating in South Sudan, to discuss, amongst other topics, their concern about the possible impact of the NGO bill.

Armed Conflict: Children

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with African Union governments to end the recruitment of children into the national armed forces of countries where this practice takes place; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government is committed to helping countries end the recruitment and use of children in conflict.  During the United Nations General Assembly in New York, I hosted a Ministerial roundtable, chaired by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms Leila Zerrougui. The event brought together Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, Mr Smail Chergui.The meeting looked at ways to end the recruitment and use of children in conflict by government forces, particularly through the implementation of UN Action Plans. It allowed countries that have successfully ended this practice to share lessons with those who are working towards this goal.The roundtable built on an event during the End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit in London in June, led by my Honourable friend Mark Simmonds MP, where Ministers from Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia underlined their commitment to ending the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.The UK is also the majority funder of a Child Protection Adviser at the AU. This post is designed to ensure child protection policies are mainstreamed in AU peace enforcement operations on the continent.

US National Security Agency

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the US has (a) sought permission from and (b) been granted permission by the UK for the National Security Agency to target second party persons or communications systems in the UK.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: It is the long-standing policy of successive governments not to comment in detail on matters of intelligence. This includes discussions with allies and liaison agencies.

North Korea: Iran

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of bilateral co-operation between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field of nuclear weapons technology.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The nuclear programmes of Iran and the DPRK are both of significant concern to the UK and to the international community. We continue to carefully monitor all developments, and to support and lead international efforts to prevent WMD proliferation, including the spread of related knowledge and technology.

Occupied Territories

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support proposals in the EU to impose sanctions on the Israeli government if it goes ahead with tenders and construction of Israeli settlements at Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are strongly opposed to any attempts to change the facts on the ground in the East Jerusalem by increasing the number of settlers living there. Such acts raise tensions and undermine prospects for peace. During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, I discussed my strong concerns about the issue of settlements and land expropriation with the Israeli Justice Minister on 6 October. Discussions are continuing in Brussels on how the EU can best discourage settlement expansion, and the UK is working closely with other Member States to that end.

Israel

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support proposals in the EU to apply sanctions on the Israeli government if it goes ahead with plans to relocate 12,000 Bedouins in a new town in the Jordan Valley without their consent.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During my recent visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I visited the E1 area and met members of the Bedouin community living there who face relocation by the Israeli authorities. They told me that they had no wish to leave, and expressed their fears of being forcibly transferred to make way for the construction of Israeli settlements. Such a move would seriously threaten the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state, and according to the UN would be contrary to international humanitarian law. Discussions are continuing in Brussels on how the EU can best discourage settlement expansion, and the UK is working closely with other Member States to that end.

Middle East

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about the progress made by the international coalition against ISIL; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are working closely with international partners, including Gulf countries, to tackle the shared threat posed by ISIL. UK Ministers and officials have had a number of discussions recently with Gulf partners about coalition action against ISIL. The Prime Minister discussed the issue with His Majesty, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on 8 October. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge discussed it with his Gulf counterparts on 14 October at the UK-GCC Foreign Ministers meeting in Kuwait. I discussed it with the Saudi Arabian ambassador earlier this month and with the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 21 October.

Sri Lanka

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Sri Lanka on the decision of the Sri Lankan Court of Appeals to halt the forced deportation of Christians and members of other religious minorities.

Mr Hugo Swire: Last month, the Sri Lankan Appeals Court lifted the temporary suspension on the deportation of asylum seekers and refugees from Sri Lanka. We are concerned that deportations have resumed. Officials at our High Commission in Colombo have raised our concerns with the Sri Lankan government, including by joining an EU demarche to the Sri Lankan government on this issue. We have made clear that deportations should only be carried out in accordance with Sri Lanka’s international obligations. We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in contact with the Office of the High Commission for Refugees.

Detainees

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK applies any form of status to detainees held outside the UK which place the detainee outside the scope of (a) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (b) the Geneva Conventions and (c) the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr David Lidington: Under international law (both customary international law and treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Geneva Conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights) states have obligations in relation to the human rights of detainees. States have a duty to ensure respect for applicable obligations in respect of detainees. The United Kingdom takes its duty in this regard seriously and we expect other States to do so too.

Occupied Territories

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support proposals in the EU to take action against the Israeli government if it continues to expand the settlement of Har Homa in East Jerusalem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are strongly opposed to any attempts to change the facts on the ground in East Jerusalem by increasing the number of settlers living there. Such acts raise tensions and undermine prospects for peace. During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, I discussed my strong concerns about the issue of settlements and land expropriation with the Israeli Justice Minister on 6 October. Discussions are continuing in Brussels on how the EU can best discourage settlement expansion, and the UK is working closely with other Member States to that end.

Islamic State

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the volume of oil being sold from oilfields controlled by ISIL; and to whom such sales are being made.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that levels of oil production in ISIL held areas are likely to be a fraction of pre-conflict capacity, and that any oil products are likely to be consumed for internal ISIL use, and smuggled into regional markets.

Antisemitism

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of anti-semitism in Europe; what recent discussions he has had on anti-semitism with his European counterparts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The British Government is committed to combating anti-Semitism wherever it is found and supports the efforts of EU partners to tackle racism in all its forms.The November 2013 report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), indicated that two-thirds of people identifying themselves as Jewish across eight EU Member States considered anti-Semitism to be a problem in their country. As current Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the UK will be discussing this issue at the IHRA's Plenary Meetings in Manchester in December.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also works very closely with the UK Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which provides expert advice on tackling anti-Semitism to other EU Member States.The British Government will be represented at a senior level at the tenth anniversary of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Conference and Declaration on Anti-Semitism, being held in Berlin on 13 November.

Iraq

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of efforts to form an inclusive government in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government welcomes the appointment of Iraqi Defence and Interior Ministers on 18 October, and that Kurdish Ministers have now taken up their posts. This completes the formation of the new Iraqi government, with representation from all of Iraq’s main communities. More inclusive governance will be critical in addressing the challenges that Iraq faces.The UK will support Prime Minister al-Abadi and his Ministers as they work to build a more stable and prosperous future for all of Iraq’s communities.

Palestinians

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress made by the international effort to support the reconstruction of areas damaged by recent military action in Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Reconstruction of Gaza has begun, the Palestinian Border Authority announced that 75 trucks entered Gaza on 14 October for private sector construction. The UK pledged £20m to help kick start the recovery and help get the Gazan people back on their feet. Israel and the Palestinians must now demonstrate that they are ready to take the political steps necessary to agree a durable ceasefire that ends the cycle of violence.

Bahrain

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Bahrain on its human rights record.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Ambassador and his team regularly discuss human rights and political reform with the Government of Bahrain at the highest levels. We are supportive of the reforms underway in Bahrain and commend the steps taken by the Bahraini government to implement the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and UN Universal Periodic Review. Whilst progress has been made in a number of areas, we are clear that more needs to be done. I will continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to ensure that the recommendations are fully implemented.

Malaysia

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to encourage the authorities in Malaysia to prosecute effectively violations of fundamental freedoms of religion.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK supports freedom of religion and belief and the rights of minorities to practice their faith. We are aware of concerns in Malaysia about rising acts of religious intolerance and we regularly raise the issue of freedom of religion with the Malaysian authorities.Freedom of religion was at the heart of my right hon. and noble Friend the former Minister of State's (Baroness Warsi's) visit to Malaysia in April this year. She had wide-ranging meetings on this issue, including with the Malaysian Prime Minister, and made a major speech setting out the UK position. We also pursue the importance of observing religious freedoms through Parliamentary and experts visits and through multi-lateral mechanisms, such as the EU and the UN. Our High Commission in Kuala Lumpur also speaks regularly to Malaysian civil society and faith groups to understand the context better.

Conflict Prevention

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and outcomes of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Progress on the implementation of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS) – including through the Conflict Pool – has been reported to Parliament annually since 2011. Progress includes: the achievement of 30% of DFID spending going to fragile states; establishment of cross-HMG strategies for priority fragile or conflict-affected States; the implementation of a cross-HMG tool to analyse drivers of conflict; and changes made to the Conflict Pool to reflect the challenges of spending in high-risk environments, including multi-year funding and the introduction of a dedicated crisis response Early Action Facility (EAF). Once the Conflict Pool comes to a close at the end of FY14/15 the FCO, MOD and DFID will commission an external review, covering the three-year Conflict Pool results framework. This report will be published once completed. The BSOS will continue to be one of the key policy drivers for UK activity in fragile states including under the new Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which builds on the success of the Conflict Pool and replaces it from financial year 2015/16. As well as responding to crises, the CSSF will also ensure longer term conflict prevention work to tackle the root causes of conflict abroad.

Conflict Prevention

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the future of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS), published by the Coalition Government in 2011, set out a new strategic framework for cross-Government work to prevent conflict and build stability in fragile states focussing on better early warning, rapid response, upstream conflict prevention and working with international partners. The BSOS remains one of the Government’s key policy frameworks for activity in fragile states including under the new Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which builds on the success of the Conflict Pool, and replaces it from Financial Year 2015/16. Priorities for the Fund will be set by the National Security Council to ensure a strengthened cross-departmental approach that draws on the most effective combination of defence, diplomacy, development assistance, security and intelligence. This will include funding to ensure the UK can respond quickly to crises. It will also ensure longer term conflict prevention work to tackle the root causes of conflict abroad.

Training

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on security and hostile environment training in each year since 2010.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides a wide range of security courses. Most are conducted in-house. A three-day Security Awareness in Fragile Environments (SAFE) residential training course, with an additional one-day SAFE+ Close Protection module, is provided by an external contractor.Costs for all security and hostile environment training were as follows:2010/11 : £414,028.322011/12 : £500,164.522012/13 : £484,826.552013/14 : £535,437.82

Rendition

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on (a) the transportation of detainees held by another state through UK territory, including UK colonies and dependent territories, other than pursuant to a lawful extradition proceeding, (b) attendance of UK agents at interrogations of detainees by or on behalf of a foreign state and (c) supplying questions for use in interrogating detainees held by foreign states.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We expect any State wishing to transport detainees via UK territory, including our Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, to seek permission to do so. The Government will grant that permission only if satisfied that such transportation would be in accordance with UK law and our international obligations. Detained persons should remain within the protection of the law at all times.Government policy on the principles governing the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas, and on the passing and receipt of intelligence relating to detainees, is set out in the Consolidated Guidance published in July 2010. The Consolidated Guidance is consistent with UK domestic law and international law obligations, and requires an assessment of the standards to which the detainee may have been/or may be subject.

Malaysia

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Malaysia on the trial of the leader of the opposition in that country, Anwar Ibrahim; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: My right hon. and noble Friend the former Minister of State, Baroness Warsi, raised Anwar Ibrahim’s case with senior members of the Malaysian government during her visit to Malaysia in April this year. Our High Commission in Malaysia has also discussed the matter with Malaysian ministers and officials on a number of occasions in recent months and is closely monitoring Anwar’s appeal against his conviction, including by attending court hearings alongside other diplomatic missions.

Northern Ireland Office

Torbay

Mr Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many visits were made by Ministers of her Department to Torbay constituency in the 12 months to October 2014; whom the invitation for each such visit was issued by; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such visit.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: None. I visited Torbay in April 2014 but this was a political visit which was arranged and paid for by the Conservative Party.

Northern Ireland Government

Mr David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress she has made on cross-party talks in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The talks commenced in Belfast on 16 October and I am pleased that all five Executive parties have engaged in the process.I believe that it is essential that they give this process the highest priority and show determination in their efforts to reach an agreement on these crucial matters.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Speaker

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with (a) the Northern Ireland Assembly and (b) the Northern Ireland Executive on ways of ending the impasse on the appointment of a Speaker of the Assembly.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The appointment of the Assembly Speaker is an entirely devolved matter.However, the recently convened cross-party talks offer an opportunity for the Northern Ireland parties to consider the working of the institutions.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Trade Fairs: Farnborough

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the net benefit to the UK export sector as a result of the recent Farnborough Airshow.

Matthew Hancock: Farnborough is an important showcase for the UK aerospace sector. The Department does not make estimates of aerospace exports arising as a result of the Farnborough Airshow. However, given the UK’s position as a leading supplier to the world’s aerospace industry, our industry is likely to be a major beneficiary of many of the new orders announced at the Show.Recent data from the Aerospace Defence and Security trade association show aerospace exports grew by 12% in 2013 to £25 billion.There has been significant interest in UK Export Finance’s (UKEF) Direct Lending Facility (DLF) since its enhancements were announced in the Budget. Since it was relaunched on 30 June 2014, the pipeline of potential export contracts has developed and now involves 28 UK-based exporters of varying size and export experience. As it stands, the pipeline has 35 potential export contracts that range from £3m to over £350m. Most importantly, the DLF pipeline is growing.

Matthew Hancock: Farnborough is an important showcase for the UK aerospace sector. The Department does not make estimates of aerospace exports arising as a result of the Farnborough Airshow. However, given the UK’s position as a leading supplier to the world’s aerospace industry, our industry is likely to be a major beneficiary of many of the new orders announced at the Show.Recent data from the Aerospace Defence and Security trade association show aerospace exports grew by 12% in 2013 to £25 billion.There has been significant interest in UK Export Finance’s (UKEF) Direct Lending Facility (DLF) since its enhancements were announced in the Budget. Since it was relaunched on 30 June 2014, the pipeline of potential export contracts has developed and now involves 28 UK-based exporters of varying size and export experience. As it stands, the pipeline has 35 potential export contracts that range from £3m to over £350m. Most importantly, the DLF pipeline is growing.

New Businesses: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many start-up loans have been granted to businesses in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire to date.

Matthew Hancock: In total more than 21,000 Start Up Loans have been issued to budding entrepreneurs across the country since the scheme launched in June 2012. 38 loans have been issued in Pendle constituency out of 794 loans in total across Lancashire.

Tata Steel

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Urgent Question on 16 October 2014, Official Report, column 445, on Tata Steel, what meetings and discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with the Scottish Government to discuss the selling of the Long Products Division.

Matthew Hancock: Tata have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Klesch Group about a possible sale of their Long Products Division. Both companies have made clear that there are some months of commercial negotiation ahead including consultations with the workforce.   The Government and the Scottish Government have ongoing discussions on these and other matters all the time.

Bassetlaw

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he next plans to visit local businesses in Bassetlaw.

Jo Swinson: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is planning to visit Bassetlaw on Thursday 27 November.

Scottish Power

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has held with stakeholders on the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jo Swinson: After this matter was raised by the Hon. Member for Bradford South (Gerry Sutcliffe) at Prime Minister’s Questions on 28 June 2014, I, along with officials from the Insolvency Service, held a meeting with the Hon. Member for Bradford South, Mr Sutcliffe, on 17 July 2014. Mr Sutcliffe is head of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for this issue, and therefore representative of stakeholders’ views. At that meeting he handed over further information from the liquidators of two companies which operated the extended warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power, and we agreed that the Insolvency Service would review this information to ascertain whether or not further investigation was appropriate. It was explained to Mr Sutcliffe that any decision whether or not to commence an investigation using s447 Companies Act would be confidential and the Insolvency Service would not be in a position to confirm that decision or comment further.

Technology: Urban Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made with the Smart Cities programme; and if he will make a  statement.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Development

Fraud

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) open and (b) closed cases are listed on her Department's fraud register; and to which countries each such case relates.

Justine Greening: Detail on fraud broken down on a country by country basis is contained within DFID’s Annual Report for 2013/14.

Languages: Education

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on language training in each year since 2010.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID centrally contracted language training providers in 2012. Spend for each year since then is: 2012£7,523.402013£17,9772014£20,586.96   Collating spend figures for prior years would incur disproportionate costs as training would have been procured locally.

Training

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on security and hostile environment  training in each year since 2010.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID provides Security Awareness in Fragile Environments training for staff working in these locations. Spend for each year has been:   2011£137,054.182012£371,236.902013£305,195.242014£191,138.37   Expenditure for 2010 is not available as this was prior to a central contract being awarded.

Developing Countries: Disease Control

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the value of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership as a mechanism for co-ordinating research into (a) a new tuberculosis vaccine and (b) paediatric formulations for antiretroviral treatment.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) provides an effective coordination mechanism for clinical research. Member States provide funding which is matched by the European Commission, and funding is also provided from third parties (e.g. philanthropic foundations and the private sector). .   EDCTP has played an important role in research into a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, by increasing the amount of TB vaccine trial activity in countries with a high burden of TB. This includes capacity building and developing sustainable infrastructures which will facilitate TB vaccine trials in the future, as new products emerge. EDTCP has also helped to improve paediatric formulations of antiretroviral treatment (ART). The findings from EDCTP-funded research were used by WHO to develop treatment guidelines for children. This resulted in the first fixed-dose combination antiretroviral drug being made available for a large number of HIV-infected children.

Developing Countries: Disease Control

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK has taken as Chair of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) General Assembly to encourage other member states of EDCTP to increase their contributions to and investment in the partnership.

Mr Desmond Swayne: In 2013, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) member state partners agreed to commit Euros 125million to the second phase of the EDCTP programme. Members also agreed to commit up to a further Euros 1.5billion of in-kind contributions, such as support for infrastructure and staff time. This was a significant increase in contributions and investment from the first phase of the programme.   Progress made by EDCTP members towards meeting these commitments will be published in the business plan. Progress will be monitored by the European Commission and by the General Assembly, which is currently chaired by the UK.

West Africa

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government has taken to promote strengthening of the health systems in those countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that, in the countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak, health services to treat other preventable diseases are not negatively affected.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that, in the countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak, maternal and childbirth health services are not negatively affected.

Justine Greening: Ebola has clearly placed a huge strain on the health care system of those countries most affected and the UK is leading the international effort to tackle the disease. However, we recognise that we need to continue to support the health system and mitigate impact on wider health outcomes. The UK is the biggest bilateral donor to Sierra Leone and commenced a major health systems programme in 2012.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will support the inclusion of a reference to universal health coverage in the Health Goal in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Justine Greening: The UK government welcomed the emphasis on Universal Health Coverage in the report of the High-Level Panel, chaired by the Prime Minister, and was pleased to see its inclusion as a target in the proposal of the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals.

Developing Countries: Disease Control

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the value of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership as a mechanism for co-ordinating research into global health goods.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) provides an effective coordination mechanism for clinical research, making effective use of available funding, and coordinating technical and research expertise from a variety of countries and sectors over a ten year period. This long-term coordination is important, given the nature of the research the EDCTP supports.   The European Commission undertakes impact assessments of EDCTP, in line with the requirements of the European Parliament and European Council. The UK has used these assessments for the ongoing process of review of spend and to judge the value and impact of the programme.

Department for Education

Further Education: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students who completed further education in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West went on to (i) university, (ii) a full-time job and (iii) an apprenticeship in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles: Destination measures were produced for students who entered an A level or other Level 3 qualification in June 2014 for the 2010/11 cohort, showing their destinations in 2011/12. This was the first time that the data had been compiled separately for Further Education (FE) students – those in FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and FE providers – and those in school sixth formsThe table below shows data for Pendle, Lancashire and the North West for FE students (students in FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and FE providers). Separate figures for full-time employment are not available.The published tables, which include comparable data for school sixth forms, are published online at:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-key-stage-4-and-key-stage-5-pupils-2011-to-2012The figures for 2011/12 are:Destination Measures for key stage 5: 2010/11 cohort1 from further education going into a 2011/12 destination. Percentage going into a sustained2 destination AreaNumber3 of further education4 studentsHigher5 EducationEmployment and/or Training6ApprenticeshipsOther7 sustained2 destinationsDestination not sustained2/NEETActivity not captured in the data8North West31,82051%6%5%10%13%15%Lancashire5,39054%6%5%8%14%13%Pendle38052%3%5%11%13%16%Source: National pupil databaseNotes:All students who entered an A Level or other Level 3 qualification. This includes all level 3 qualifications i.e. general or applied A levels, AS examinations or other level 3 qualifications. These students are mostly academic age 17. There are also a number of students of academic age 16 and 18 in the cohort.Sustained participation for the first two terms, October to March.Number of students rounded to the nearest 10.Further Education includes students from Further Education Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and other Further Education providers; it excludes school sixth forms.Higher Education includes students at Higher Education institutions or undertaking Higher Education provision at a Further Education college.This includes all young people who were recorded as having been in employment and/or training for at least 5 months for the sustained period, October to March.Other sustained destinations include school sixth forms, sixth form colleges, further education colleges, other further education providers, independent schools and specialist providers.‘Activity not captured in data' means the young person was not found in an education, employment or a recorded NEET destination. Possible reasons for this could be that the young person was attending an independent college or school that was not captured in the awarding body data, a Scottish or Welsh college or school, they have left the country, are in custody or their whereabouts are not known.

Classroom Assistants

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in light of the announcement that a new set of standards is to be established for teaching assistants in England, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the devolved administrations on ensuring consistency in standards for teaching assistants across the UK.

Mr David Laws: School staffing policy is a matter for the devolved administrations. A review of teacher assistant standards for schools in England was launched recently. It is led by Kate Dethridge who is being supported by a panel of experts. A public call for evidence will be initiated shortly which will explore good practice across schools. The Department for Education also plans carry out a public consultation once the standards have been agreed by the expert panel. Use of the standards will be voluntary.

Academies

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school applications have been processed by regional school commissioners; how many such applications were (a) approved and (b) refused; and what the reasons for such approval or refusal were in each case.

Mr Edward Timpson: The regional schools commissioners (RSCs) have been involved in nine applications for new academies under the academy presumption (section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006). RSCs do not make the decision about whether a new school is needed or not. This decision lies with the relevant local authority, and arises from the basic need for more pupil places. The RSCs’ role is limited to deciding who would be the best proposer to establish the new school.In six cases the RSC approved the proposer recommended by the local authority. In three cases a different proposer was approved. In each case this decision was taken based on an assessment of the capacity, capability and performance of all proposers.RSCs do not currently make decisions about free school applications.

Ministry of Justice

Stalking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to develop programmes for perpetrators of stalking (a) in the community and (b) in custody.

Andrew Selous: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 21 October 2014 (210680 and 210770).

Stalking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to issue revised sentencing guidelines in respect of the new offences of stalking.

Mike Penning: Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council.

Internet: Bullying

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with social media companies about bringing forward legislative proposals to tackle internet trolling.

Mike Penning: The sending of abusive messages or material online can cause absolute misery for victims and the Government recognises the need to make sure that people who commit these awful crimes are properly punished.Changes to the law included in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill will mean that people who target others with abusive or offensive material, including internet trolls, will face up to two years in prison and the police will have more time to investigate cases.The Secretary of State for Justice has not had any discussions to date with social media companies about legislative proposals to tackle internet trolling. However, as one of the joint chairs of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, I have discussed and fed the Government’s views in to a range of internet safety issues with social media companies and others.

Prisons: Organised Crime

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase gang-related intelligence for prison officers prior to prisoner arrivals in order to prevent mixed gang wings.

Andrew Selous: On arrival in an establishment, the risk a prisoner presents to others and themselves, and their risk of harm from other prisoners will be assessed. Where appropriate, this will include a Cell Sharing Risk Assessment to assess a prisoner’s suitability to share accommodation. The risk assessment will consider information and intelligence from a number of sources, including known gang affiliations and conflicts if appropriate. In April 2014, NOMS completed the implementation of a nationally networked intelligence system - ‘Mercury’. Through the Mercury system staff are able to access intelligence linked to prisoners where a prisoner has previously been held in custody, on or in advance of a prisoner’s arrival (where a prisoner is being sent from another establishment). In addition where a prisoner has previously been held in custody, the National Offender Management Information System (NOMIS) will hold warnings to alert staff to particular risks and behaviours. A number of law enforcement agencies, including the police, regularly share information about prisoners to support the identification of risk. This includes prisoners with gang affiliations and conflicts. To ensure that prisoners are held in safe, decent and secure conditions, the risks to and from prisoners remain constantly under review. Where risks become known, establishments take appropriate steps to mitigate these risks, which may include relocating a prisoner to another wing or establishment.

Prisons: Restraint Techniques

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many control and restraint techniques have been used in prisons in each year since 2004.

Andrew Selous: A specialised system of restraint known as control and restraint (C&R) has been developed over many years to ensure that prisoners can be controlled with minimum risk of injury to staff or prisoners. C&R is a system of techniques used by a team of three officers as a last resort to bring a violent or unmanageable prisoner under control. Wherever possible staff are instructed to avoid use of force and de-escalate the situation by persuasion or negotiation. If the techniques are applied they are used for as short a time as possible. All prisons submit a central monthly return providing the number of times force has been used in the prison, and specifically the number of uses of C&R. While this has been collated centrally since late 2009, to provide details since 2004 could only be achieved at disproportionate cost, as it would require contacting every prison individually and tracing data from prisons that have closed since 2004.

Prison Accommodation

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve first night accommodation for prisoners in prisons.

Andrew Selous: There are no building projects planned or in delivery that are specifically intended to improve first night accommodation across the estate. Where individual first night accommodation has been identified as requiring improvement, this is taken forward locally by the Governor/Director. Prison Service Instruction 74/2011 Residential Services requires that prisoners have access to living accommodation, furnishings, fittings and equipment that are safe, decent and secure and which meet their individual needs, as far as practicable. Living accommodation and communal areas are also to be kept clean and maintained. Where a fault is reported residential prison staff are responsible for reporting the problem to the appropriate person for the issue to be resolved.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to answer Question 202782, on prisoner escapes, tabled on 26 June 2014 for answer on 30 June 2014.

Simon Hughes: I answered Question 202782 on 24 October 2014. The answer can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-06-26/202782/ I apologise for the delay in answering this question.

Prisoner Escapes

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the longest time is that any prisoner has been on the run in the last 30 years; for what offence that prisoner was sentenced; what the length of that sentence was; and how long that prisoner had served before absconding.

Andrew Selous: Detailed records of offenders who are unlawfully at large have only been maintained since April 2004. It is not possible therefore to provide details of any prisoner who has been unlawfully at large before this period or to specify the longest period of absence. The number of escapes, absconds and temporary release failures has fallen over the last two decades. When a prisoner becomes unlawfully at large he or she is immediately reported to police to locate and apprehend. Unlawfully at large prisoners are often recaptured and returned to custody quickly, and over 97% of prisoners who absconded between April 2004 and March 2014 have been returned to custody. Absconds are taken very seriously. Re-captured prisoners will be returned to a more secure closed prison and will face either a criminal prosecution or an internal adjudication in prison in front of a visiting judge. In either case they can receive additional time in prison.

Prime Minister

Big Society Network

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Prime Minister, whether he or his advisers approached (a) NESTA and (b) Big Lottery Fund to request them to fund the Big Society Network or the Society Network Foundation.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for Civil Society, my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr Newmark) on 5 September 2014, Official Report, column 347W.

Big Society Network

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Prime Minister, how many discussions he and his advisers had with (a) NESTA and (b) the Big Lottery Fund prior to those organisations awarding funds to the Big Society Network.

Mr David Cameron: Details of my meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available on the gov.uk website.

Ministry of Defence

Qatar

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what UK armed forces assets and personnel are currently based at al-Udeid.

Mr Mark Francois: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State.

Iraq

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any British nationals have been killed in airstrikes in his Department's operations in Iraq.

Mr Mark Francois: It is not our practice to comment in detail on specific operational targets as to do so would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Army: Recruitment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to close the Army Recruitment Centre, Rhyl; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that closure on opportunities for recruitment in the Rhyl area.

Mr Julian Brazier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Mark Francois) on 2 July 2013, Official Report, column 608W.



Hansard Extract 2 July 2013
(Word Document, 24 KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Carer's Allowance

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to link an increase of the earnings threshold for carer's allowance to the rise in the National Minimum Wage.

Mr Mark Harper: The earnings threshold in Carer’s Allowance is regularly reviewed. It is designed to enable carers to maintain a link with the labour market and achieve greater financial independence. It is increased periodically, most recently from £100 to £102 on 20 May 2014.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on short term benefit advances for claimants of universal credit in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to date.

Mr Mark Harper: Short Term Benefit Advances (STBA) are only available against legacy benefits. Universal Credit has it's own system of benefit advances. The equivalent support to STBA is provided by either the Universal Credit (new claim) advance or the Universal Credit (change of circumstance) advance.   Currently these costs are not reported separately. UC benefit expenditure is published in the table in the attached link   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2014

Employment and Support Allowance: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people currently in receipt of employment and support allowance (ESA) in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley local authority and (c) South Yorkshire have been waiting more than 13 weeks for an ESA reassessment.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Jobseeker's Allowance Sanctions Independent Review

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the terms of reference for Matthew Oakley's review of jobseeker's allowance sanctions omitted sanctions for employment and support allowance.

Esther McVey: The Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013, required the Secretary of State to appoint an independent person to prepare a report on the operation of sanctions validated by the legislation. The terms of reference reflect this requirement.However, the Government Response to the Oakley Review goes wider than the terms of reference. For example, we are reviewing all claimant communications and sanctions processes, not only for those Jobseekers Allowance claimants who come under the remit of the Report, but all JSA claimants and also all Employment Support Allowance claimants.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Disqualification

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed the sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years have had their sanction overturned after they were reconsidered or successful appeals were made.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed the sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years have had their sanction overturned following appeal.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have received a sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed the sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years have had their sanction overturned after they were reconsidered.

Esther McVey: This information is published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming universal credit have accessed short term benefit advances to date.

Mr Mark Harper: Short Term Benefit Advances (STBA) are only available against legacy benefits. Universal Credit has its own system of benefit advances. The equivalent support to STBA is provided by either the Universal Credit (new claim) advance or the Universal Credit (change of circumstance) advance. The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit in September 2013 which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for Universal Credit, therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future.

Employment and Support Allowance: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley local authority area and (c) South Yorkshire are waiting for an employment and support allowance (ESA) assessment; and how many of those are (i) new claimants and (ii) existing ESA recipients.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested on people waiting for an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) work capability assessment in Barnsley Local Authority and the South Yorkshire area is shown in the table below. Number of people whose functional assessment has not yet been completed for initial and repeat assessments, in Barnsley Local Authority and South Yorkshire: 27 October 2008 – 31 December 2013  Initial assessmentsRepeat assessments   Barnsley LA1,400500South Yorkshire6,4002,400  Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare. Notes:Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.Data is given up to 31 December 2013, which is the latest data available.South Yorkshire is made up of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Local Authorities. Data for Barnsley East Constituency is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the support group, (b) the work-related activity group and (c) overall in Barnsley local authority area will be affected by the social sector under-occupancy penalty.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Automated Credit Transfer

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on bank transfer transactions for each type of benefit and pension payment in the last financial year; and what the total cost was of those transfers.

Steve Webb: DWP can provide a total figure for UK benefit bank transfers for 2013/14 (including pensions) by BACS, broken down by benefit as follows: Benefit VolumeBanking CostsATTENDANCE ALLOWANCE (AA) (inc Overseas)14,914,870£65,625.43DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE (DLA) (inc Overseas)47,522,463£209,098.84EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND (ESF)288£1.27CARERS ALLOWANCE (CA) (inc Overseas)27,066,880£119,094.27INCAPACITY BENEFIT (INCAP)10,093,974£44,413.49INCOME SUPPORT (IS)146,845,498£646,120.19INDUSTRIAL INJURIES (IIDB)11,975,719£52,693.16OVERSEAS DIVISION (ODIIDB)73,828£324.84JSA30,546,139£134,403.01MORTGAGE DIRECT (JSA MD)239,080£1,051.95LPS71,171£313.15LPS MID1,900£8.36MORTGAGE DIRECT (MI)1,299,364£5,717.20RETIREMENT PENSIONS339,855,838£1,495,365.69THIRD PARTY PAYMENTS (TPP)44,715£196.75WINTER FUEL NEW RULE (WFNR)953,886£4,197.10SOCIAL FUND (SF)1,157,008£5,090.84DWP ESA MID617,369£2,716.42DWP ESA44,349,674£195,138.57DWP CPS LOCAL PAYMENTS1,930,311£8,493.37PIP282,631£1,243.58Universal Credit13,556£59.65Benefits Total679,559,975£2,990,063.89Excluding CSA/SPVA/CMS686,118,046£3,018,919.40TOTAL BACS 699,386,621£3,077,301.13 The Department does not have the breakdown for Faster Payments by benefit type, however the total volume figure of payments is 3,261,640 and a transaction value of £526,273.

Disability Living Allowance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is required before a disability living allowance decision-maker can take up the role.

Mr Mark Harper: All staff undertake a 14 week training period in preparation for their role as DLA decision makers. This comprises a blend of classroom-based learning and on-the-job supervision and coaching. Following this 14 week training period continuing support is provided to decision makers through coaching, mentoring and monitoring, training workshops and workplace learning.

Performance Appraisal

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department (a) are on a personal improvement plan, (b) have been on a personal improvement plan for over one year and (c) have been on a personal improvement plan for more than two consecutive years; and what the grades are or were of such staff.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department have more than one member of staff on personal improvement plans.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department are responsible for mentoring staff on personal improvement plans.

Steve Webb: The Department does not centrally maintain fully comprehensive records of all employees who have been placed under performance improvement plans as many of these are dealt with informally.

Social Security Benefits: Veterans

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans have claimed benefits in each year since 2010.

Esther McVey: This information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many local authorities in (a) Wales and (b) the UK returned unused discretionary housing payment to his Department in 2013-14.

Steve Webb: In 2013-14, 240 local authorities in Great Britain spent less than 100% of their total Government contribution in DHP, of which 5 were in Wales. Thirteen local authorities, of which two were in Wales, reported expenditure which exactly matched their Government contribution.   In June, the Government published an analysis of local authority DHP expenditure in 2013-14, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322455/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-june-2014.pdf

Housing Benefit

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much each local authority in (a) Wales and (b) the UK returned to his Department in unused discretionary housing payment funding in 2013-14.

Steve Webb: Five local authorities in Wales spent less than their 2013-14 Government contribution in Discretionary Housing Payments. These were: Local Authority Government Contribution Amount Unspent Ceredigion£324,933£290Conwy£267,700£1,498Gwynedd£605,141£20,072Newport£343,870£1Pembrokeshire£193,940£4,176 Details for all 240 local authorities in Great Britain which spent less than their 2013-14 Government contribution in DHP are provided in the attached annex.  For the remaining 140 local authorities across Great Britain, of which 17 were in Wales, DHP expenditure in 2013-14 either matched or exceeded the Government contribution. 



Unspent DHP GB
(PDF Document, 198.36 KB)

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what payments were made in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14 in compensation for delays to claimants arising from the Atos assessment process (a) nationwide and (b) in the Stoke-on-Trent area; what steps he is taking to ensure that no further such delays are incurred; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: My response relates to Work Capability Assessments. The reasons for making special payments are not routinely recorded and to provide the requested information would incur disproportionate cost. We are continuing to work closely with Atos under the current contract and process claims as quickly as possible. DWP’s aim is to continually improve the Work Capability Assessment process and help bring down waiting times for claimants.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support available for people with progressive conditions; and to what extent the assessment process for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments takes into account the fluctuating and progressive nature of conditions such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.

Mr Mark Harper: Both Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have been designed to take full account of fluctuating conditions and healthcare professionals who undertake assessments are required to fully explore and report any fluctuations in a claimant’s condition(s). If a claimant has a progressive medical condition, healthcare professionals will take this into consideration when advising the Department as to when the claimant might need to be reviewed. Entitlement to both ESA and PIP is based on the impact of the claimant’s disability or health conditions.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training his Department makes available to staff who assess people with progressive health conditions for employment and support allowance or personal independence payment on the nature of those conditions.

Mr Mark Harper: All healthcare professionals who carry out either Work Capability Assessments or Personal Independence Payment assessments undergo broad and thorough training in disability analysis, as well as training in specific conditions, including progressive conditions. Atos Healthcare and Capita are required to conform to a rigorous set of quality and recruitment standards which are closely monitored by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to Question 210464, what metrics are used to track and manage timeliness of payments within the benefits system.

Esther McVey: The Department uses a broad range of Management Information to monitor processing of benefit claims including, for example, the percentage of claims processed within defined timescales and the average time for claims to be processed, with different metrics being used for different benefits. Further information on activities to manage timeliness of payments, and some examples of the metrics used for specific benefits, is available via the Departmental Improvement Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts, both of which are publicly accessible via the gov.uk website.   DIP https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-departmental-improvement-plan-2014 Accounts https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323953/dwp-annual-report-accounts-2013-2014.PDF

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of universal credit access to childcare accounts equivalent to those proposed in the Childcare Payments Bill for claimants of tax-free childcare.

Steve Webb: Universal credit prepares claimants for the world of work in which around 75% of employees are paid monthly and in arrears. Monthly payment of benefit, which includes support for childcare costs that have been paid out, makes for more straightforward reporting and helps households to budget on a monthly income, which eases the transition into paid work. Moving to a system of ‘childcare accounts’ which ring-fences childcare costs would complicate the system for these claimants. It would add complexity to the Universal Credit system, which is being rolled out in a safe and controlled manner and could potentially increase the administration costs of running two systems in parallel. We have worked with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to support claimants that may wish to switch between Universal Credit and Tax Free Childcare. It will be easy for parents to register and open a childcare account online for Tax Free Childcare, and those who wish to move back to Universal Credit may do so without having to report the change to HMRC. Both systems are designed to be simple, responsive and flexible. We recognise the importance of providing information and support to help parents make an informed choice about which scheme to access. Alongside wider guidance and information, we will provide support and online tools for parents choosing between Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare.

Employment: Older Workers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Mid-life Career Review Project.

Steve Webb: I welcome the findings of the Mid-life Career Review. As identified in our publication “Fuller Working Lives – A Framework For Action”, re-skilling is an essential component in ensuring that people can work, earn and save for as long as they wish. A number of lessons learned from the pilot have already been integrated into existing career and skills provider practice, and the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will continue to work with the National Careers Service and the wider network of advisers in the community, and with business, on ways to meet career review needs.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in benefit payments; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: DWP has made a number of operational improvements in benefit processes across each working age benefit, supporting both speed of clearance performance and overall customer experience. There are no delays in benefit payments, working age benefits are currently being paid on time.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Livestock: Antibiotics

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent the overuse of antibiotics on farm animals.

George Eustice: In September 2013 the Government published the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy 2013 to 2018 which is led by the Department of Health, Public Health England and Defra. An annual progress report and implementation plan for the strategy is due for publication in November. This report will describe progress in implementing the strategy. It will include the further measures on animal health to be taken over the next four years to respond to the risk of AMR and to promote the responsible use of antibiotics.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the comparability of the data used to assess the effectiveness from year 1 and year 2 of the badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

George Eustice: The culls were closely monitored and the processes for data collection were independently audited. The results now need to be quality assured and assessed.

Badgers

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what account her Department's calculations of badgers per sett as a means of estimating badger populations took of (a) the movement by badgers between setts and (b) the effect of peturbation.

George Eustice: The Paragraph 19d of the document “Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for year 2 of the badger culls” explains our assumption about numbers of badgers per sett. This approach was approved by the Department’s Chief Veterinary Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's publication Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for year 2 of the badger culls, published in August 2014, for what reason different methods of estimating badger population were used in Gloucestershire and Somerset for determining the numbers of badgers to be removed in year 2 of the pilot culls in those areas.

George Eustice: As the licensing authority, it is for Natural England to set minimum and maximum numbers of badgers to be removed in each area. Defra’s advice on this particular issue is set out in paragraphs 19 to 29 of the document “Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for Year 2 of the badger culls”.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's publication Setting the minimum and maximum numbers for year 2 of the badger culls, published in August 2014, for what reason the methodology used to calculate the number of badgers to be culled changed from year 1 to year 2.

George Eustice: The approach used to calculate the number of badgers to be culled was approved by the Department’s Chief Veterinary Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser.

Home Office

Immigration Controls

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many flights into private airfields were unchecked by immigration officers in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: In each year since 2010, checks have been carried out on all flights into private airfields that were notified to Border Force.

Offenders: Deportation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders recommended by the courts for deportation in each of the last 10 years have not been deported; in which city each such offender lives; and for what reasons each such offender has not been deported.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is shown in the following table: YearTotal cases where deportation not pursued200617220074192008559200920520102052011161201292201381 NotesPlease note that the Home Office is not able to provide data on the city in which the offender lives or the reasons each offender has not been deported as the costs would be disproportionate.Deportation may not be pursued for a number of reasons, such as not meeting the deportation criteria, meeting a specific legal exemption or an appeal being allowed on human rights grounds. (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.(2) A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is defined as an individual with a criminal case, on the Home Office's Case Information Database, and may include individuals with asylum cases.(3) Figures relate to Court Recommended Criminal Cases between the period 01 September 2006 and 30 September 2014.(4) Figures relate to cases with a case outcome of Deportation Order (DO) not pursued. This refers to cases where deportation was not enforced but includes cases where the FNO has been administratively removed or voluntarily departed from the UK. (5) Figures relate to main applicants only. (6) Figures prior to 2010 procede the implementation of a later reporting application and as such were not subject to the same level of data assurance for data recorded after 2010.

Members: Correspondence

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to her letter to the Director General, UK Visas and Immigration of 22 September 2014 on behalf of a constituent, CTS reference M13587.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State can confirm that a reply will be despatched to the hon. Member for Walsall North’s letter, CTS ref M13949/14, on 29th October 2014.

Offences against Children: Internet

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of online child abuse were referred from the National Crime Agency to individual police forces in each of the last four years; and how many of those referrals included named individuals.

Mike Penning: The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which became operational on 7 October 2013, have together made the following number of disseminations in relation to child sexual exploitation and abuse, which will include on-line abuse, to the territorial police forces in the UK in the last four years. The figure for 2013 includes the Project SPADE disseminations, hence the significant increase over 2012.2011 – 11132012 – 19272013 – 48752014 to 30 September - 2519The NCA is not in a position to provide details on how many referrals included named individuals.

Offences against Children: Internet

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the National Crime Agency has made a request to internet services providers to link an identified IP address with a name and address in each of the last four years; how many such requests were made in relation to investigations into online child abuse; and what the average charge made for each such request was.

Karen Bradley: There are limits to what can be said publically about the operational techniques used by our law enforcement agencies. To do so would assist potential criminals to evade detection. However, in investigations that start with an online identifier or IP address, such as online child sexual exploitation cases, communications data will often be the only available investigative lead to identify a suspect or victim in the real world. If this data is not available, such investigations cannot proceed. As the Director General of the National Crime Agency, Keith Bristow, has made clear: "Communications data is still overwhelmingly the most powerful tool available to those investigating child sexual exploitation and identifying and safeguarding its victims and potential victims."

Bail

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to set a maximum time for which a person can be on police bail following arrest and prior to any charge.

Mike Penning: As my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary said in her speech to the College of Policing’s Annual Conference on 15 October, "we must… look at statutory time limits on the use of pre-charge bail to prevent people spending months or even years on bail only for no charges to be brought."The Home Office will consult shortly on how best to put in place a limit on the duration of pre-charge bail that balances the rights of suspects and the interests of justice.

Bail

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people in England and Wales who are on police bail but have not been charged.

Mike Penning: Figures on the number of individuals on pre-charge police bail are not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. There is therefore no basis on which to produce a reliable estimate.

Police: Wales

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the change in the number of front-line police jobs in Wales since May 2010.

Mike Penning: Table 1 contains statistics on the number of operational frontline police officers, police staff and police community support officers in Wales as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2014, as well as the change between the periods.Table 2 shows that over the same period, police recorded crime (excluding fraud) has fallen by 21% in Wales.   



Tables 1 & Table 2 -  Frontline police jobs
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.26 KB)

Meat: Smuggling

Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures are in place to prevent the illegal importation of bushmeat into the UK.

James Brokenshire: Border Force is responsible for enforcing anti-smuggling controls at points of entry into Great Britain to detect imports of illegal meat and other products of animal origin arriving from outside the European Union. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for these controls at points of entry into Northern Ireland. Border Force seizes animal products that are imported outside the veterinary checks regime under the Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011 in England and equivalent regulations covering Scotland and Wales. Border Force liaises with local authorities when meat is detected arriving from another country within the European Union.Border Force operates intelligence led anti-smuggling controls on meat to detect illegal imports carried by arriving passengers, in freight and in postal traffic. Border Force works closely with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure its targeting is responsive to the latest animal disease risk assessments and changing threats at the border. Most recently Border Force has been involved in the cross government response to the current outbreak of Ebola and has adjusted its targeting of illegal meat to take account of this risk. Border Force also deploys a pool of detector dogs specifically trained to detect illegal meat.Border Force treats all meat as potentially hazardous and infected and all seized meat is secured and incinerated strictly in accordance with animal health regulations.Meat seized by Border Force will include bushmeat, for which there is no precise definition but is accepted to be the meat of wild animals hunted for food. In addition to the enforcement activity carried out at the border, Border Force works closely with the National Crime Agency who can investigate and prosecute serious offenders. Border Force and Defra actively deter the illegal importation of Products of Animal Origin by communicating clearly what the legal requirements are for bringing meat into the UK and why the controls are needed.

Parliament Square: Demonstrations

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the police response to the demonstration in Parliament Square on 21 October 2014; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Home Office Ministers have received no representations relating to the police response to the demonstration in Parliament Square on 21 October.

Food: Crime

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to the police on co-operation with the Food Standards Agency and the new Food Crime Unit; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has not issued any guidance to the police. The City of London Police will second police officers to the Food Crime Unit as part of their role as the national lead for fraud. It is the responsibility of the College of Policing's national policing business areas to appoint, as appropriate a national business policing lead for this work and to secure the engagement of forces nationally with this initiative.

Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department has reclassified fraud as a notifiable recorded offence.

Karen Bradley: Fraud is a group of offences that consists of several different offence types. Fraud offences have always been recorded as notifiable offences. There has not been any recent major reclassification of these offences.

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the future of the Childbase database of known online child abuse; how she envisages this database interacting with the Child Abuse Image Database; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Childbase database ceased to be active in 2011 and is no longer live. All forces have access to the interim National Hash Set Database which will be replaced by the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID). The CAID is being developed to support analysis by police of devices seized during investigations; to support victim identification; and to provide hash set data to the internet industry, to allow them to remove these appalling images from their networks.

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on commissioning the Child Abuse Image Database; whether this database will include all image-data known to Interpol; what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces can access this database; what specialist software regional police forces will require to access this database; and what additional funds she is making available to cover the costs of such software.

Mike Penning: Departmental spend on commissioning the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) for the first year is £1,473,179, which is being recharged to police forces. It is estimated that CAID will save the police £7.474 million by March 2017 by speeding up police processes.The project has been developed using data from Interpol and, where appropriate, this information will be included in the initial database load for CAID.The CAID system will be available to all police forces in the UK and National Crime Agency – Child Exploitation and Online Protection (NCA-CEOP) Command via the police secure network. All forces will be accredited to access this data supported by the Home Office project team and security advisers. The CAID system allows the use of forces’ existing image grading and hashing software. Any additional software needed to access CAID and to upload new material from the forces/NCA-CEOP Command to the database is provided as part of the central project at no cost to the forces. Each force is responsible for its own set-up costs to establish the connectivity of their force High Tech Crime Unit or Grading Unit in an enhanced, secure way to the police secure network that already exists in their forces.It is expected that the CAID will cost forces approximately £20,000 per year in service costs (which are used to maintain and improve the database). This cost has been agreed with the National Policing lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation.

Law and Order

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the use of predictive analytics as a law enforcement tool.

Mike Penning: A number of police forces are using predictive policing techniques, particularly to reduce crimes like burglary. The Home Office has undertaken no formal assessment of these techniques, but the College of Policing has plans to release a technical assessment of different predictive crime mapping models and software. This will inform police forces’ decisions about appropriate analytical tools and techniques.

Entry Clearances: Offenders

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions visa bans have been used to prevent people considered to be involved in corruption or organised crime from travelling to the UK in each year between 2005 and 2009, by country of origin; and on how many occasions such bans have subsequently been revoked.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offences against Children

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library the report of the Wanless Review.

Norman Baker: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Rent a Room Scheme

Mr Andrew Love: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the annual cost of providing the rent-a-room tax scheme if the threshold were raised (a) in line with rental inflation since 1997-98 and (b) to £7,500 per year; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has made no such assessment but keeps all tax policies under review.

New Businesses: Taxation

Adam Afriyie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the potential effect of giving part-time entrepreneurs a fixed definition in the Tax Code.

Mr David Gauke: There is no definition of a part-time entrepreneur within the Taxes Acts. In general, the tax system treats part-time entrepreneurs in the same way as full-time entrepreneurs, and there are no plans to change this.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has approved (a) the strategic outline business case and (b) the full business case for universal credit.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon member to the answer that I gave on 24 October to the hon member for South Down:   http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=208391

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy: Meters

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what forecast he has made of (a) the number of smart meters installed and (b) the cost on the consumer bill of the installation of such meters in each quarter between Q3 2014 and Q3 2018.

Amber Rudd: The larger energy suppliers have provided yearly smart and advanced meter installation forecasts to DECC, which were published in the ‘Second Annual Report on the Roll-out of Smart Meters’ in December 2013:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/second-annual-progress-report-on-the-roll-out-of-smart-metersThese figures will be updated in the next annual report based on the most recent projections by suppliers. It should be noted that these figures do not include any of the smaller suppliers’ estimates, nor take into account any growth in customer numbers.DECC does not project bill impacts on a quarter by quarter basis and DECC’s latest prices and bills report from March 2013 contained projected bill impacts from smart metering for 2013, 2020 and 2030:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/172923/130326_-_Price_and_Bill_Impacts_Report_Final.pdf .The smart meter Impact Assessment published in January 2014, estimates that even at their peak in 2015 the costs to the average consumer will be £6, or less than 0.5% of the average bill:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessmentTaking into account all costs and savings, by 2017 the average consumer will start saving money, leading to an annual net saving of £26 in 2020, increasing to £43 a year in 2030 in comparison to a situation without smart meters.

Biofuels

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total subsidy was to (a) power generation by biomass and (b) domestic combustion of biomass in the UK in the last three years for which figures are available.

Amber Rudd: The main mechanism of support for biomass1 power generation is the Renewables Obligation (RO). An estimate of support can be made by applying the share of RO certificates (ROCs) redeemed by suppliers, originating from biomass generation, to overall RO expenditure. This is given in the table below for 2011/12 to 2013/14.RO total expenditure (£m nominal)Biomass share of ROCs redeemed (%)Estimated biomass support under the RO (£m nominal)2011/121,45833.5488.42012/131,99131.9635.12013/14 (P)2,59927.9725.1   2013/14 data are provisional, Ofgem’s annual report will be published in February 2015. RO expenditure published in Ofgem’s RO annual reports, available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro ROCs redeemed by technology available at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0 (Compliance certificates report). Domestic combustion of biomass in the UK is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but was previously covered by the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) until April 2014. The table below gives figures for the amount of subsidy biomass boilers received in the last 3 years:   YearTotal Spend on Biomass Boilers (Nominal Prices)2014£1.9m2013£1.5m2012£0.9m [1] There is no single category for “biomass” under the RO. In this answer, we have defined biomass as the following generation types: Anaerobic Digestion, ACT, bioliquids, dedicated biomass, biomass conversions, EfW, landfill and sewage gas and CHP technologies.

Nuclear Reactors

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the economic viability of small nuclear reactors.

Matthew Hancock: The Government recognises the potential for Small Modular Reactors (SMR) technology; in particular the potential for shorter delivery timescales and to reduce the costs of nuclear power for consumers. SMRs could also present high value commercial opportunities for the UK. The Government has commissioned a feasibility study to assess the technical, economic and commercial case for SMRs. This will inform the evidence base for further decision making. The study, which is being led by the National Nuclear Laboratory with a consortium from academia and industry to provide a broad and balanced view, will be published in Autumn.

Performance Appraisal

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many staff in his Department are responsible for mentoring staff on personal improvement plans.

Amber Rudd: All individuals on personal improvement plans are supported and coached by their line manager.

Job Evaluation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the procedure is in his Department for assessing grade boundaries and job roles; and how often such assessments take place.

Amber Rudd: Grades across the Civil Service are defined by job weight, which is a measure of a job’s complexity and responsibilities. Job weight in the Department of Energy and Climate Change is determined by a job evaluation system called JESP (Job Evaluation for Senior Posts) for the senior Civil Service (SCS) and JEGS (Job Evaluation & Grading Support) at grades below SCS.A formal JESP evaluation should be undertaken where:· a new post is created and the pay band is not obvious· an existing post changes significantly, raising doubt about the pay band· posts are on the boundary of different pay bands· posts are subject to a grading reviewa pay banding decision is disputed.DECC has not undertaken any formal JESP assessments in the past 12 months.Grade boundaries and job roles for staff below the SCS are initially assessed by reference to the Department’s grading guidance. Before advertising a new or existing post the recruiting manager should assess the grade of a post using the guidance. Any changes to the grade of a job role must be authorised in local business area by senior managers.JEGS is only formally used when the appropriate grade cannot be clearly determined by reference to the grading guidance. In most cases, roles will fall readily into a grade on this basis.No central records are held of local grading assessments. One formal JEGS assessment has been carried out within the last 12 months.

Private Finance Initiative

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many private finance initiative projects his Department contracted for in each year from 1997 to 2010.

Amber Rudd: The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) came into being in October 2008.The department contracted one private finance initiative project in 2009 and none since then.

Energy

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will take steps to ensure that statements by his Department on energy efficiency are made when the House is in session.

Amber Rudd: DECC already makes the great majority of statements and policy announcements when the House is in session and Ministers are committed to continuing this.

Cabinet Office

Electronic Government

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made in tackling copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to members of the public of copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current legislation in tackling websites which copycat government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have used copycat websites of government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of websites which copycat government websites.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made with internet service providers to tackle copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the investigation by Trading Standards into copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the extent of public awareness of copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the campaigns by (a) Transport for London, (b) the Advertising Standards Agency and (c) Trading Standards to raise public awareness of copycat websites of government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress has been made in ensuring that people only use gov.uk to access and pay for government services.

Chris Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made on the potential merits of consolidating all government websites into gov.uk as means of reducing the use of copycat websites which charge extra for government services.

Mr Francis Maude: My Rt Hon Friend the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy updated the House on the work the government is undertaking to address the issue of misleading websites during a Westminster Hall Debate on 28 October 2014.

Lord Wei

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department were assigned to work with Lord Wei when he was a government adviser.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Lord Wei was an adviser to his Department; and whether he held a pass that allowed him to access the Cabinet Office.

Mr Francis Maude: Lord Wei was appointed to advise the Government on aspects of the Big Society. He held a Cabinet Office pass and had three officials assigned to work with him.

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful registrations of identity there have been through the Gov.uk Verify programme.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has received representations on a public sector provider of identity assurance during the Gov.uk Verify programme.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made in introducing the Government identity assurance programme, Gov.uk Verify; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Francis Maude: Information on Verify is published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify GOV.UK Verify provides the first opportunity for people to verify their identity entirely digitally.  The service has not yet been launched and is still in public beta. Performance data will be published in due course.Government Digital Service has not received representations from public sector providers of identity assurance

Asthma

Liz Kendall: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people (a) under and (b) over the age of 18 died as a result of asthma in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Death from Asthma
(PDF Document, 114.35 KB)

Skin Cancer

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have died as a result of (a) malignant melanoma and (b) other forms of skin cancer in England and Wales in the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Death from Skin Cancer
(PDF Document, 104.34 KB)

Cancer: Hampshire

Mr Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what mortality rate from cancer was in (a) Fareham constituency and (b) Hampshire in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Mortality Cancer Rate
(PDF Document, 127.42 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Gambling

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Gambling Commission on financial transaction and IP blocking; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS officials and I hold regular discussions with the Gambling Commission on a range of matters including arrangements for enforcing the new licensing regime for remote gambling operators, which comes into force on 1 November 2014.These enforcement arrangements include the disruption of illegal financial transactions. Companies such as MasterCard, Visa and PayPal are working with the Gambling Commission to ensure the termination of financial processing contracts with unlicensed gambling operators.The Government and the Gambling Commission will assess the effectiveness of this approach, to enable Government to ensure that the Gambling Commission continues to have all of the enforcement tools that it needs.

Gambling

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made on introducing a one stop shop  for problem gamblers; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Gambling Commission is currently consulting on a requirement for gambling operators to allow individuals to exclude themselves from gambling, by making a single request to exclude from all online gambling, and a single request to exclude from all land-based gambling within a local area.

Gambling: Advertising

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will review the regulations related to pre-watershed television advertising relating to gambling; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: The four strands of work exploring the current state of gambling advertising in the UK, which we announced in March this year, are concluding as scheduled. This includes the regulations relating to pre-watershed gambling advertising on television.

Tourism: VAT

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ministers of other departments on changing the level of VAT for the tourism and hospitality industries; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State and myself routinely meet with Ministerial colleagues on a range of matters on a regular basis. VAT is a matter for the Treasury.

Horse Racing: Betting

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times he or officials in his Department have met the European Commission to discuss the introduction of a horse racing betting levy for online gambling since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS officials have met with officials from the European Commission twice during 2014 to discuss proposals to extend the Horserace Betting Levy to offshore remote operators. Engagement with Commission officials has continued throughout this period, facilitated by BIS and UKRep. I have not held any discussions with the Commission on this issue.

Gaming Machines

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to introduce a £50 limit on fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: Draft regulations have been drawn up and are being submitted to the European Commission for comment under the terms of the Technical Standards Directive. We intend for these to come into force on the April 2015 common commencement date.

Gaming Machines

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects the Natcen research into the relationship between fixed odds betting terminals and problem gambling to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: The research in question is scheduled to be published in December 2014 by the Responsible Gambling Trust. This will include an introductory statement on the plausible markers of harm as well as two research reports on patterns of risk along with associated contextual research analysis.

Internet: Wales

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the timetable is for the extension of high-speed internet to the South Wales Valleys.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Superfast Cymru has already enabled over 230,000 Welsh homes and businesses to access superfast broadband and aims to cover 700,000 (93%) by the end of 2017. The Welsh project team recently announced that all exchanges in Wales will be covered in the programme, with work commencing in all exchanges by September 2015. The programme within in the South Wales Valleys has already connected 24 exchanges in the Caerphilly area, with two remaining exchanges due to be upgraded in December 2014. The final two will be enabled in 2015.

Rugby Football Union

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding the Rugby Football Union received from (a) his Department and (b) its subsidiary bodies in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: Since 2010 Sport England has invested over £40 million OF Grant-in-Aid and National Lottery money in the Rugby Football Union. This investment is being made independent of the Government. This investment of National Lottery and Grant-in-Aid money has been to get more people playing rugby regularly, to support the development of talented players, and to support the England Women’s national team in its successful world cup campaign in August 2014.

Tourism: Coastal Areas

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of deregulating school holidays on (a) tourism jobs in seaside areas and (b) seaside economies.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposals in the Deregulation Bill on tourism jobs.

Mrs Helen Grant: There has been no specific assessment of the impact the Government’s proposals in the Deregulation Bill will have on tourism jobs. However, impact assessments have been completed on the overall impact of proposals within the Bill. Government is confident that tourism jobs and seaside economies will not be adversely affected overall. Whilst the measures will extend an existing flexibility to a greater number of schools, this does not mean that all schools will change their term dates. This Government believes that decisions about term dates are best made locally. The Department for Education is working with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions and others to ensure the Department’s advice to schools on their new freedoms is clear that term dates should be set in the interests of pupils’ education and should also consider parents and local businesses.

Mass Media

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses his Department's press office has made to enquiries from student journalists in the last year.

Mrs Helen Grant: In the last year, the DCMS press office has responded to ten enquiries from student journalists.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the speed of the delivery of superfast broadband to rural areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The pace of delivery of the Superfast Broadband Programme has accelerated substantially across the UK over recent months, resulting with on average 40,000 premises per week now able to access superfast broadband . All 44 Phase 1 local projects are delivering superfast broadband to homes and businesses. In August the programme had reached 1 million premises, and by February 2015 we will have reached 2 million homes and businesses. The second phase to extend coverage to 95% of UK premises by 2017 is in procurement and aims to have all contracts signed by early 2015.

Department of Health

Hepatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answers of 30 March 2011, Official Report, column 399W, to the hon. Member for Colne Valley, and of 28 March 2011, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA217, to Lord Morris of Manchester, whether, when the dependents and widows of those who contracted hepatitis C following treatment with NHS blood products, but who died before 29 August 2003, were given the opportunity to apply for Skipton Fund lump sum payments during a two month period in January to March 2011 the fact that (a) registrations made after the 31 March 2011 deadline could be accepted on a case-by-case basis where there was a valid reason for the applicant to have missed the registration deadline and (b) applicants needed only to register with the fund by the deadline and could compile the necessary medical evidence later were communicated through the channels listed in Deposited Paper DEP2011-0543.

Jane Ellison: The decision that claims to the Skipton Fund in respect of people who died before 29 August 2003 could be registered after 31 March 2011 on a case-by-case basis, where there was a valid reason for the applicant to have missed the registration deadline, was communicated by the Skipton Fund on its website. It was not communicated through the other channels listed in Deposited Paper DEP2011-0543.   The Skipton Fund website still states that it is possible to apply for payments on behalf of the estate of someone who died prior to 29 August 2003, but claimants are asked to contact the Skipton Fund to discuss whether the claimant has a valid reason for missing the original deadline for registering claims of 31 March 2011.

Motor Neurone Disease: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of augmentative and alternative communication aids for sufferers of motor neurone disease in (a) East Lancashire and (b) the North West.

Norman Lamb: Since April 1 2013 NHS England has been responsible for commissioning Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aids for patients with complex disability whose needs require specialised assessment, including for patients with motor neurone disease (MND). Commissioning of non-specialised AAC aids is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups.   NHS England has published a service specification for specialised AAC aids that sets out what should be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services and supports equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service for patients across the country including in East Lancashire and the North West. The specification can be found at:   www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d01-com-dis-equ-alt-aug-comm-aids.pdf   NHS England has identified an additional £22.5 million funding for AAC and Environmental Controls in 2014-15. They have been working closely with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to ensure this funding is equitably distributed across England in a fair and consistent manner. The MNDA are representing all patients on the panel which is reviewing this funding allocation.

Dementia: Pendle

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in Pendle constituency have been diagnosed with dementia in each year since 2006-07.

Norman Lamb: Information is not available in the format requested. The number of people on the dementia register is available. This is a measure of prevalence rather than incidence. The number of people recorded on practice disease registers is taken from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The following table shows all available data for East Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as these cover the Pendle constituency.   Number of patients on the QOF dementia register for East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group/Primary Care TrustPractices1Practice List size1Number of patients on Dementia Register1East Lancashire CCG   2013-14259371,6082,3232012-1361367,8912,197East Lancashire PCT   2011-1265386,1872,1832010-1167388,3241,9752009-1067388,2671,8482008-0965388,3451,7152007-0865387,5431,7742006-0765386,2601,744   1 Practices, Practice List sizes and Number of patients on Dementia Register are based only on those GP practices that participated in QOF.   2 Information for 2013-14 is based only on those practices that participated in QOF in both 2012-13 and 2013-14. Therefore, 2013-14 figures are provisional and are subject to change once the full QOF is published 28 October 2014.

Pancreatic Cancer

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS improves the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Jane Ellison: Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15. We are investing £450 million to achieve early diagnosis of cancer through better public awareness, better screening and better access to key diagnostic tests. However we know that early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can be very difficult as the symptoms are shared with a wide range of benign conditions.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) are available to help general practitioners assess when it is appropriate to refer patients for suspected cancer, including pancreatic cancer. NICE is in the process of updating the guidelines to ensure that these reflect latest evidence and can continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.   We understand that NHS England has asked NICE to develop a clinical guideline and quality standard on pancreatic cancer.   At a local level, it is for individual clinical commissioning groups to promote and enhance the diagnostic capability to deliver better outcomes. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments that may be used for pancreatic cancer are commissioned at the moment by NHS England. NHS England’s pancreatic cancer service specification clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective pancreatic cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards.   NHS England has also committed to make up to £6 million available over the next three years to support six trials by Cancer Research UK into the use of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR), an innovative radiotherapy treatment. This will allow patients to receive SABR treatment now, where clinicians think they could benefit. At the same time doctors can fully assess the effectiveness of these treatments so that in future, if it proves to be effective, they will be available for all relevant patients on the NHS. One of these six trials will be on pancreatic cancer.   The Department published Improving Outcomes for Upper Gastro-Intestinal Cancers in 2001, which describes best practice in the delivery of services for patients with all types of upper gastro-intestinal cancer, including pancreatic cancer.  NICE has recommended gemcitabine as a treatment option for pancreatic cancer in technology appraisal guidance published in May 2001, subject to certain clinical criteria and is currently appraising a number of other pancreatic cancer drugs. Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance for use in the National Health Service, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.   A number of drugs to treat pancreatic cancers are also available through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Motor Neurone Disease

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS is meeting the communication needs of people with motor neurone disease.

Norman Lamb: Since 1 April 2013 NHS England has been responsible for commissioning Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aids for patients with complex disability whose needs require specialised assessment, including for patients with motor neurone disease. Commissioning of non-specialised AAC aids is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups.   NHS England has published a service specification for specialised AAC aids that sets out what should be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. The specification can be found at:   www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d01-com-dis-equ-alt-aug-comm-aids.pdf   NHS England has identified an additional £22.5 million funding for AAC and Environmental Controls in 2014-15. They have been working closely with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to ensure this funding is equitably distributed across England in a fair and consistent manner. The MNDA are representing all patients on the panel which is reviewing this funding allocation.

Obesity: Pendle

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) men and (b) women in Pendle constituency were classified as (i) overweight and (ii) obese in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: Data on adult obesity and excess weight (overweight and obese) for Pendle district are available from the ‘Local Health Profiles’ using data from the ‘Active People Survey’ commissioned by Sport England. The data are only available for 2012 and are presented as a total figure for males and females. This data is not collected by parliamentary constituency. The following data are for the area of Pendle district.   Excess weight defined as the proportion of the adult population who are overweight or obese for Pendle district in 2012 was 67.7% (England 63.8%).   The proportion of the adult population in Pendle district classified as obese in 2012 was 25.3% (England 23.0%).

Obesity: Pendle

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in Pendle constituency were classified as (a) overweight and (b) obese in each year since 2006-07.

Jane Ellison: Data on childhood obesity are not collected by parliamentary constituency. The following data are for the area of Pendle district. The National Childhood Measurement Programme (NCMP) data collection began in 2006-07 and only collects data on two age groups; reception year (4-5 years) and year 6 (10-11 years).Reception Year (4-5 years)Year 6 (10-11 years) Prevalence of obesityPrevalence of overweight (including obese)Prevalence of obesityPrevalence of overweight (including obese) Children%Children%Children%Children%2006-079410.8419122.035013.599926.92007-088910.0619321.8115218.3625130.312008-09827.9821921.3215916.3127928.622009-101029.5125323.5817517.8230731.262010-111069.8425623.7716317.2529130.792011-1211510.4827124.719219.1235235.062012-1315112.4631325.8318819.5433935.24   Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, National Childhood Measurement Programme.

Social Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to Question 209199, what research his Department has (a) conducted and (b) considered on (i) the effect of treatment of staff on standards of care and (ii) the relationship between levels of pay and quality of social care services.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not conducted any recent research on the effect of treatment of staff on standards of care and on the relationship between levels of pay and quality of social care services.   As part of the development of Caring for our Future white paper in 2011, the Department undertook extensive engagement with both service users and carers who highlighted range of issues they felt needed addressing to ensure high quality care and support is available. In addressing this, the Department, working with the Sector Skills Council - Skills for Care - and other partners, has implemented a range of policies that has included setting out clear minimum training standards, recruiting more apprentices and supporting the transformation of the social work profession.

Hepatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the letter dated 7 March 2014 from the Minister for Public Health to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (reference POC4 845965) if he will place in the Library all documents in the possession of his Department relating to the advice received from an independent group of experts when the Skipton Fund was first established in 2003-04 in relation to the practicality of the State 1/Stage 2 Hepatitis C distinction.

Jane Ellison: We will arrange for all of the documents relating to the advice received from the group of independent experts which provided advice on the medical trigger for Skipton Fund stage 2 payments in 2003-04, to be placed in the Library by 14 November 2014.

Dementia

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with dementia receive an early diagnosis.

Norman Lamb: Improving dementia diagnosis is a key component of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia. NHS England has set the first ever national ambition to improve dementia diagnosis. By March 2015, our aim is that two-thirds of the estimated number of people with dementia receive a diagnosis and appropriate post diagnostic support.   We have taken the following steps in order to ensure that people with dementia receive a timely diagnosis;   - We have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners (GPs) to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. NHS England has allocated £5 million to fund an additional enhanced service for GPs to run between October 2014 and March 2015 to drive improvements in dementia diagnosis.   - On 10 September 2014 NHS England published a new Dementia Toolkit aimed at helping GPs making a more timely diagnosis and what they can do in terms of vital post-diagnostic support.   - In the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed.   - All National Health Service staff looking after people with dementia will go through a dementia awareness programme. Health Education England will provide Tier 1 training to an additional 250,000 staff by March 2015, and will ensure that the tools and training opportunities are available to all staff by the end of 2018.

Prostate Cancer

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Jane Ellison: Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15. We are investing £450 million to achieve early diagnosis of cancer through better public awareness, better screening and better access to key diagnostic tests.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) are available to help general practitioners (GPs) assess when it is appropriate to refer patients for suspected cancer, including prostate cancer. NICE is in the process of updating the guidelines to ensure that these reflect latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.   At a local level, it is for individual clinical commissioning groups to promote and enhance the diagnostic capability to deliver better outcomes. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments that may be used for prostate cancer are commissioned at the moment by NHS England. NHS England’s prostate cancer service specification clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective prostate cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards.   NICE published an updated clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in January 2014. NICE has recommended docetaxel, abiraterone and enzalutamide as treatment options for some types of prostate cancer, subject to certain clinical criteria and is currently appraising a number of other prostate cancer drugs. Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance for use in the National Health Service, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate. A number of drugs to treat prostate cancer are available through the Cancer Drugs Fund.   This Government is also investing in innovative radiotherapy treatments to improve outcomes for those with cancer. NHS England has also committed to make up to £6 million available over the next three years to support six trials by Cancer Research UK into the use of Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR). This will allow patients to receive SABR treatment now, where clinicians think they could benefit. At the same time doctors can fully assess the effectiveness of these treatments so that in future, if it proves to be effective, they will be available for all relevant patients on the NHS. Two of these six trials will be on prostate cancer.   We have also invested £23 million across 50 United Kingdom centres aimed at increasing the capacity of radiotherapy centres in England to deliver Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). We committed to achieving the ambition of 24% of all radiotherapy to be delivered through more accurate IMRT, and we are now seeing 35% of all radical radiotherapy treatments delivered using this method compared to 5% in 2010.   The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) began collecting data in April 2014 and is due to publish the first of four annual reports during November 2014. The NPCA is the first national clinical audit of the care that men receive following a diagnosis of prostate cancer. It is designed to collect information about the diagnosis, management and treatment of every patient newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in England and Wales, and their outcomes. The findings from the audit will contribute to changes in clinical practice ensuring that patients receive the best care possible and experience an improved quality of life. The audit is funded by the Department and has been commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership.

Hearing Impairment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects his Department to publish its Action Plan on Hearing Loss.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is leading on producing the Action Plan on Hearing Loss with input from various agencies and other government departments, including the Department of Health.   We know NHS England is keen to publish as soon as possible but do not yet have a publication date. Departmental officials will continue to engage with them on this.

Hearing Aids

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what clinical guidance local commissioners are expected to consider when making decisions about commissioning of hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss.

Norman Lamb: Local commissioners are responsible for the provision of hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss. Commissioners should take into consideration assessments of local need and any relevant clinical guidance, which may include guidance from appropriate national bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on agency and locum staff in the NHS (a) in total, (b) for each job type and (c) in each year since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Following the Francis1 report many trusts were required to increase their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels.  The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their contract and agency2 staffing spend (including use of locums) responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management and to minimise temporary staffing costs in future years.   The amounts spent on agency and contract staff (including locums) in the National Health Service in each year since May 2010 are as follows:   NHS Foundation Trusts3 Year£ million2010-11854.72011-12907.02012-131,101.02013-141,396.2Total4,258.9   NHS Trusts This information is not available for NHS trusts for 2010-11 to 2012-13 as spend on agency and contract staff was not separately identified from other “non permanent NHS staff”4. The amount spent in 2013-14 on Contract and Agency staff by NHS trusts is £1,209.1m.   The Department does not collect data on how much has been spent on agency and locum staff for each job type.   Notes:   1 http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/   2The definition of Contract / Agency staff is: “Agency” employee payments for the employment of staff where the staff remain employees of the agency and “Contract staff” where the NHS trust has control over numbers and qualifications of staff (in contrast to a service obtained under contract).   3 For 2009-10 – 2012-13 actual figures are based on gross staff costs as per notes in the NHS Foundation Trust consolidated accounts. The figures from the consolidated accounts may differ to the Board reports due to adjustments made on redundancy, early retirement, capitalisation of staff costs and costs of R&D staff. 2013-14 figure is taken from the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14.   4 The figures published for 2012-13 for NHS trusts are based on non-permanently employed staff which is defined as “others engaged on the objectives of the organisation and will include staff on inward secondment or loan from other organisations, bank/agency/temporary staff and contract staff.”

Social Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings officials of his Department have had with officials of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the naming and shaming of social care providers who do not comply with National Minimum Wage legislation; and when he expects such social care providers to be named and shamed for such non-compliance.

Norman Lamb: During the course of this year, officials from the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BiS) have formally met once for policy discussions on the issue of non-compliance of social care employers with National Minimum Wage legislation. I have also recently written to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Employment Relations (Jo Swinson) on this subject.   The new scheme making it easier to name and shame employers who do not comply with National Minimum Wage legislation came into effect from October 2013 and applies to investigations initiated after that date. HM Revenue and Customs leads on the conduct of investigations and makes recommendations to BiS Ministers on the issue of naming employers found to be in breach. The timing of any naming of social care providers is therefore dependent on the outcome of investigations, and will follow where appropriate.

Dietary Supplements

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations the Government has made to the European Commission on the future regulation of health food supplements.

Jane Ellison: The United Kingdom has not recently made any representations to the European Commission on the future of health food supplements.   Officials continue to engage at European Commission Expert Working Group meetings to ensure that any future changes to legislation are proportionate and based on evidence, so that consumers have confidence in what they buy, while maintaining a wide choice of safe products.

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of mandatory labelling on all alcoholic products on the incidence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Government is committed to improving the labelling of alcoholic drinks, including a warning to avoid alcohol for women who are pregnant or trying to conceive. It is not mandatory to include warnings on drinking in pregnancy on labels. However, as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, alcohol retailers and producers have a responsibility to help raise this awareness and have committed to putting an agreed warning or a pregnancy warning logo on 80% of labels on bottles and cans. An independent market survey has been carried out which we expect to be published shortly.   The evidence is that health information on labels should not be considered a standalone measure, but part of broader efforts to raise consumer awareness and education on the health risks linked to alcohol consumption.   This is supported by research commissioned by the Department in 2005 to review the evidence around the effectiveness of alcohol harm reduction communications and related campaigns.   The Chief Medical Officer is currently overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.   The review will specifically include consideration of health risks for women from alcohol consumption. We expect to be able to consult on new draft guidelines by summer 2015.

Hospitals: Pharmacy

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS hospital pharmacies there are.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS hospital pharmacies have had their dispensary services put out to tender to private companies since the coming into force of the Health and Social Care Act 2012; what the equivalent figure was prior to that date; how many such companies dispense or deliver medication to NHS (a) outpatients and (b) hospital inpatients; and what the total amount of VAT (i) reclaimed by all such companies since that date and (ii) paid by all the incumbent NHS hospital pharmacies whose services have not been put out to tender to private companies since that date was.

George Freeman: This information is not collected by either the Department or NHS England.   The decision to put hospital pharmacy services out to tender is a matter for individual trusts.

Cord Blood

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS Trusts on (a) increasing the number of hospitals that are able to collect umbilical cord blood for transport and (b) promoting the donation of umbilical cord blood for transplant.

Jane Ellison: NHS Blood and Transport (NHSBT) manages the NHS Cord Blood Bank and provides specialist services related to the provision of stem cells which can turn into blood cells for the treatment of blood cancers. This service is an integral part of the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry. NHSBT is also responsible for raising awareness of these issues, in collaboration with its delivery partners. NHSBT has informed the Department that it has no plans to open new collection centres at present.

Motor Neurone Disease

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much from the public purse has been spent on research into motor neurone disease in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much from the publich purse has been spent on research into osteoporosis in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much from the public purse has been spent on the development of new drugs to prevent or treat symptoms of motore neurone disease in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much from the public purse has been spent on the development of new drugs to treat symptoms of osteoporosis in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Government has spent on the development of new drugs to treat the symptoms of asthma in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much public funding was allocated to research into asthma in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: The following table shows estimated expenditure on research on asthma, motor neurone disease (MND) and osteoporosis by the Medical Research Council, other Research Councils and Innovate UK, and by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) through its research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships.   £ million  2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14AsthmaMedical Research Council22.217.517.219.418.8Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.10.31.50.8National Institute for Health Research2.63.42.43.43.8Total24.821.019.924.323.4Motor Neurone ResearchMedical Research Council7.07.54.24.13.6Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.20.20.40.71.0National Institute for Health Research0.10.10.40.70.5Total7.37.85.05.55.1OsteoporosisMedical Research Council6.25.45.14.65.9Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.00.10.41.0National Institute for Health Research0.30.70.81.31.8Total6.56.16.06.38.7   The figures shown for asthma exclude research into air pollution and potential effects on health outcomes including asthma.   Total spend by the NIHR on asthma, MND and osteoporosis is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on these diseases cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure. NIHR expenditure relating to development of new drugs for asthma, MND and osteroporosis occurs primarily through NIHR research infrastructure including the CRN and cannot be disaggregated from total expenditure.   Information on MRC expenditure into the development of new drugs for asthma, MND or osteoporosis is not available.

Asthma: Drugs

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on the prescription of asthma drugs in the NHS in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Information on National Health Service expenditure on drugs for the treatment of asthma in primary and secondary care is in the table.   Drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis have been defined as those included in the following British National Formulary sections: 3.1.1 Adrenoceptor agonists 3.1.2 Antimuscarinic bronchodilators 3.1.3 Theophylline 3.2 Corticosteroids 3.3.1 Cromoglicate and related therapy 3.3.2 Leukotriene receptor antagonists 3.4.2 Allergen immunotherapy (omalizumab only)   Cost of drugs for the treatment of asthma, England1Drug namePrimary Care (£ millions)Secondary Care (£ millions)2009201020112012201320092010201120122013Aclidinium Bromide---0.021.62---0.000.03Aminophylline1.251.181.121.081.050.300.290.210.230.22Beclometasone Dipropionate84.2687.7290.3097.56102.391.621.531.411.491.42Budesonide140.35149.03158.82169.14177.001.291.141.141.271.41Budesonide/ Formoterol-----2.752.942.893.103.29Ciclesonide0.840.951.031.121.250.010.020.020.020.03Fluticasone366.24380.56387.89392.95396.101.000.930.911.000.99Fluticasone/ Salmeterol-----11.4611.5610.6910.8210.48Formoterol Fumarate5.184.874.684.854.930.100.080.070.060.06Glycopyrronium Bromide---0.012.300.580.620.700.791.00Indacaterol Maleate-0.040.300.921.47-0.000.000.020.04Ipratropium Bromide16.1515.0213.7410.328.612.742.842.592.652.70Mometasone Furoate0.360.310.260.230.210.760.710.610.630.67Montelukast38.9143.0146.9651.7131.310.981.021.031.160.81Omalizumab0.000.010.030.150.125.979.2212.1614.6517.86Salbutamol83.1582.6460.5860.3759.953.783.773.363.383.29Salmeterol48.8045.1641.8736.7234.040.870.740.590.530.47Terbutaline Sulphate8.618.207.617.437.180.180.160.140.140.15Theophylline2.182.172.152.222.260.120.110.110.110.11Tiotropium113.61129.98149.81169.35185.245.696.036.226.646.87Zafirlukast0.790.710.710.700.690.010.010.010.010.01Other drugs20.900.790.660.620.600.040.070.150.260.46Total911.6952.3968.51,007.51,018.340.343.845.049.052.4   1 Cost of drugs at NHS list price not taking account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. Totals may not add up due to rounding. 2 Other drugs include Azelastine/Fluticasone, Bambuterol Hydrochloride, Beclometasone/ Formoterol, Cromoglicic Acid, Fenoterol Hydrobromide, Fenoterol/Ipratropium Bromide, Fluticasone/ Formoterol, Nedocromil Sodium, Orciprenaline Sulfate and Sodium Cromoglicate. Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (primary care) Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index (HPAI) provided by IMS Health (secondary care)   Since some drugs are prescribed to treat more than one condition and as the condition for which a drug is prescribed is not collected, it is not possible to separate the different conditions for which a drug may have been prescribed. The information provided may therefore include costs from the prescribing of these drugs for conditions other than for asthma.

Asthma

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating asthma in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: The following table sets out expenditure on asthma from 2008-09 to 2012-131  Expenditure (£ billion)2008-092009-102010-112011-122012-130.870.910.991.011.05 1 Aggregate primary care trust (PCT) expenditure on own population from programme budgeting collection. Programme budgeting is an annual collection of expenditure on healthcare conditions by NHS Commissioners. Programme budgeting figures are only estimates.   It should be noted that this does not include expenditure on primary care appointments which is included as a separate category. Other areas of expenditure such as Outpatients and Community Care cannot always be allocated to sub-categories so some expenditure on asthma may be included in ‘Problems of the Respiratory System – Other’ or ‘Other - Miscellaneous’.   Further notes on interpretation of data: - Expenditure data are calculated from programme budgeting returns for 2003-04 to 2012-13. Programme budgeting returns are based on a subset of PCT accounts data and represent a subset of overall NHS expenditure data.   - Calculating programme budgeting data is complex and not all healthcare activity or services can be classified directly to a programme budgeting category or care setting. When it is not possible to reasonably estimate a programme budgeting category, expenditure is classified as ‘Other’. Expenditure on General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services cannot be reasonably estimated at disease specific level, and is separately identified as a subcategory of ‘Other’ expenditure.   - The allocation of expenditure to programme budgeting subcategories is not always straightforward, and subcategory level data should therefore be used with caution.   - In order to improve data quality, continual refinements have been made to the programme budgeting data calculation methodology since the first collection in 2003-04. The underlying data which support programme budgeting data are also subject to yearly changes. Programme budgeting data cannot be used to analyse changes in investment in specific service areas between years. Users of the data should note that significant changes to the data calculation methodology were introduced in 2010-11.   - Figures for years 2003-04 to 2009-10 are calculated using provider costs as a basis. Figures for 2010-11 to 2012-13 are calculated using price paid for specific activities and services purchased from healthcare providers. PCTs follow standard guidance, procedures and mappings when calculating programme budgeting data.   - PCT figures used to calculate 2010-11 data differ from those previously published in the 2010-11 programme budgeting benchmarking spreadsheet. This is due to the correction of errors identified for five PCTs for this year.   - Aggregate PCT data supersede previously published England level programme budgeting data. England level data incorporated estimates of expenditure on healthcare conditions for the Department of Health, strategic health authorities and special health authorities. England level data is no longer published this data as aggregate PCT figures provide a more accurate and meaningful representation of the breakdown of NHS expenditure by healthcare condition.   - For 2003-04, figures are based on PCT net expenditure. For 2004-05 onwards, figures are based on PCT spend on own population. This is calculated by adjusting net expenditure to add back expenditure funded from sources outside the NHS and to deduct expenditure on other PCT populations incurred through lead commissioning arrangements.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2014 to Question 211152, which terms used to describe mental health conditions experienced by women during pregnancy and in the first year after their child is born are classifiable within the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) classification system used to identify diagnoses in the Hospital Episode Statistics database.

Dr Daniel Poulter: More than 10% of women experience perinatal mental health problems or mental illness (i.e. during pregnancy or in the first postnatal year) and that is why improving diagnosis and services for women with perinatal mental health problems is one of the Department’s key objectives for maternity care.   Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.   The ICD-10 classification system categorises conditions experienced by women during pregnancy and childbirth under ‘mental and behavioural disorders in pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium’. There are eight ICD-10 codes for perinatal mental health diagnoses. F53.0 is the code assigned to postnatal depression.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2014 to Question 211354, which official at NHS England has the lead responsibility for perinatal mental health services.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Senior Responsible Officer at NHS England for perinatal mental health is Jane Cummings, the Chief Nursing Officer.   NHS England is responsible for commissioning Specialised Perinatal Mental Health Services (In-patient Mother and Baby Units) nationally. Non-specialised services are commissioned by local clinical commissioning groups.

Health: Business

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the emphasis placed on tackling and preventing lifestyle-related diseases in the NHS Five Year Forward View, published in October 2014, whether he has any plans to review and reform the voluntary responsibility deal.

Jane Ellison: The emphasis placed on tackling and preventing lifestyle-related diseases in the NHS Five Year Forward View underlines the importance of the Public Health Responsibility Deal and the part it plays in supporting people to make healthier choices and tackle the behaviours which lead to chronic health conditions. Over 700 community, voluntary, public sector (National Health Service as well as national and local Government), public health and commercial organisations have signed up to play their part in improving public health.   The Deal is already focussed on tackling many of the key causes of lifestyle-related ill health outlined in the NHS Five Year Forward View, including obesity, smoking and harmful drinking. The Deal’s pledges tackle a wide range of issues, including: healthier diets (e.g. reformulation for reduced salt levels, elimination of trans-fats and calorie reduction); fostering a culture of responsible drinking (e.g. lower alcohol by volume products, alcohol labelling, increasing awareness of alcohol units); increasing physical activity levels (e.g. physical activity in the workplace and active travel) and improving the health of their staff (e.g. accreditation of occupational health services, supporting employees with mental health conditions in the workplace, smoking cessation and healthier staff restaurants). The Deal will continue to play an important part in delivering these ambitions.

Ebola

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his contribution of 13 October 2014, Official Report, column 30, on bed capacity for dealing with potential Ebola patients, how many additional beds will be made available; and at which hospitals they will be made available.

Jane Ellison: The National Health Service has two ‘Trexler’ beds on stand-by 24 hours a day at the Royal Free Hospital in London, available for use within six hours maximum to allow staff to be mobilised. If needed further beds at the Royal Free Hospital, Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital and Sheffield Teaching Hospital would be made available, totalling 12 beds.   The Department believes this will be sufficient even in the event of an increase in the numbers of cases of Ebola in this country. If there is a significant upscale in numbers further beds could be made available. This would amount to at least 26 beds referenced in the Secretary of State for Health’s statement on 13 October, Official Report, Column 30.

Cervical Cancer

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the retention of cervical cancer indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the inclusion of (a) breast and (b) bowel cancer indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Jane Ellison: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s independent advisory committee recommends new indicators or changes to existing indicators. NHS Employers, on behalf of NHS England, then negotiate with the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association on which of the published indicators should be applied nationally and what the financial value and payment thresholds for those indicators should be.   There are currently four indicators within the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) that relate to cervical screening. These have had a positive impact upon increasing the participation in the screening programme in the past years. In April this year, one indicator on cervical screening: The contractor ensures there is a system for informing all women of the results of cervical screening tests was retired, as part of efforts to reduce QOF by more than a third to free up space for GPs to provide more personalised care. Indicators were retired where they were duplicating other existing incentives, were of low clinical value, were unnecessarily prescriptive or were already embedded in clinical practice. The removal of the indicators will reduce bureaucracy, unnecessary patient testing and unnecessary frequency of patient recall and recording.   There are two indicators that are relevant for all cancers. Indicators on Breast and Bowel Cancer are not currently within the QOF; however Public Health England will continue to explore with NICE whether these conditions should be included.  For 2015-16, there will not be any alterations to the cervical screening or cancer indicators, nor any new indicators for cancer, including breast and bowel cancer.

Hospitals: Greater London

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health has visited (a) Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, (b) Royal Brompton Hospital, (c) King's College Hospital and (d) St Thomas's Hospital in her ministerial capacity.

Jane Ellison: Since September 2012 I have visited:   23 December 2013, St Thomas’s hospital   6 March 2014, Kings College hospital

Ipswich Hospital

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health has visited Ipswich Hospital in his ministerial capacity.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Since September 2012, I have visited Ipswich Hospital twice in my ministerial capacity. This was on 25 December 2012 and 5 December 2013, and on many other occasions as a constituency MP, most recently on 10 October 2014.